Analysis of Indiana's policies

In Indiana, new legislation considers teacher performance as the top criterion for districts to use in determining which teachers are laid off during reductions in force. The cancellation of teachers' contracts due to a decrease in the number of teaching positions is to be "determined on the basis of performance rather than seniority." In addition, if teachers are placed in the same performance category, the following may be considered to determine which teachers are laid off: 1) years of experience, 2) attainment of additional content area degrees or credit hours beyond the requirements for employment, 3) evaluation results, 4) instructional leadership roles, and 5) academic needs of students.

Exiting Ineffective Teachers

How we graded

LIFO policies put adult interests before student needs.

Across the country, most districts utilize "last in, first out" policies in the event of teacher layoffs. Most states leave these decisions to district discretion; some states require layoffs to be based on seniority. Such policies fail to give due weight to a teacher's classroom performance and risk sacrificing effective teachers while maintaining low performers.

Policies that prioritize seniority in layoff decisions can also cause significant upheaval in schools and school districts. As teachers who are newer to the classroom traditionally draw lower salaries, a seniority-based layoff policy is likely to require that districts lay off a larger number of probationary teachers rather than a smaller group of ineffective teachers to achieve the same budget reduction.

States can leave districts flexibility in determining layoff policies, but they should do so while also ensuring that classroom performance is considered. Further, if performance is prioritized, states need not prohibit the use of seniority as an additional criterion in determining who is laid off.